May 22, 2021, Blake’s Mobile Home Ranch, Laramie, WY
Laramie, Wyoming, a place with a rich history a place where opportunities abound and a great place to live! Laramie, a place where women were first allowed to vote (1870) and a place where trappers, railroads, cattle and a great outdoors have come together in the past and today make for one of our country’s great western cities! This is the place where Impact Cares came on May 22 to come together from many different places and pour into the people of Blake’s Mobile Home Ranch.
We had a total of 43 volunteers join us and with great enthusiasm and attitudes we were able to accomplish a total of 64 improvements on 29 different homes! That is quite a feat for a few short days onsite. Our team was representing Cedaredge, CO, Fort Collins, CO and Greeley, CO along with a great group of local volunteers and people from the ‘Ranch’ itself. It was a great day, even with the wind, to encourage and bless this community.
‘Work hard like my dad,’ is what one of the youngest helpers who was only 4 years old said as he helped his dad! ‘Start ‘em young’ is a great way to teach, make memories and deepen relationships with your kids and this community had plenty of kids and they all wanted to pitch in and help.
Another resident, with tears in his eyes, said, “Wow! Everything I had wanted to do, but didn't have the money-you have taken care of in one day! All I can say is Praise the Lord for all of you! You have blessed my family beyond what we had hoped! Our home is full of hope again! Our little son has made new friends. Life can get hard. After a while you just feel beaten down. Each day it seems hard to get up and do it all over again when things don't change. But God has given us new eyes again to see the good in people and our community. We cannot thank you enough!" In a nutshell, that is what Impact Cares is all about, changing lives, bringing hope and pouring back into those who, like all of us, are overwhelmed at times by life. Life is hard but as Jesus once said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Dale and Amy from Impact Cares were fantastic during this project. With Tory being gone for a bit, they were willing and able to step right in and get done what needed doing. Camp Impact was once again a great time. We did have to take shelter a few times while the storms passed by but the kids were great! Camp Impact not only impacts the community by bringing the kids together and them making new friends but it is always fun to see the ‘wonder’ in the kids eyes as their hearts are opened up to the wonder of the gospel.
Blake’s Mobile Home Ranch is home to a very diverse group of people. From oil field workers to single moms, from cleaning ladies to the elderly, from Vietnam vets striving to stay sharp to retail workers, from those about to be married to those married for decades, Blake’s is a place, like Laramie, where opportunities abound and neighbors are helping neighbors.